Digital video recorder (DVR) systems are becoming increasingly popular with consumers. Digital video recorder systems use magnetic hard disk drives rather than magnetic cassette tapes to store video programs received from coaxial cable, a satellite dish, an antenna for terrestrial radio frequency signals, or a modem that permits access to content from the Internet. For example, the ReplayTV™ recorder and the TiVO™ recorder record television programs in digital formats on hard disk drives using, for example, MPEG-2 compression. Also, some DVR systems may record on a readable/writable digital versatile disk (DVD) rather than a magnetic disk. Users may schedule programs to be recorded and may play back the recorded programs at a later time. These systems also record what users are watching in real-time, allowing users to pause real-time programs when, for example, the user must leave the room. The systems may continue recording and storing the program being broadcast while the displayed program is paused. Users may resume their viewing where they left off, and may fast forward through commercials until they reach the point at which the program is currently being provided.
DVR systems can record a broadcast when the user establishes a start and stop recording time. Alternatively, the DVR system may rely on an electronic program guide (EPG), which is an interactive, on-screen display feature that displays information analogous to TV listings found in local newspapers or other print media. An EPG provides information about each program being broadcast within the time period covered by the EPG, which typically ranges from the next hour up to several days. The information contained in an EPG includes programming characteristics such as, for example, channel number, program title, start time, end time, elapsed time, time remaining, and a brief description of the program's content. Unlike non-interactive guides that reside on a dedicated channel and merely scroll through the current programming on the other channels for the next few hours, EPGs allow viewers to select any channel at any time during some period into the future, e.g., up to several days forward. The EPG allows the viewer to automatically record a program based on the information in the EPG.
Currently, TiVO™ recorders offer another way to record programs, in particular programs that are advertised during the course of other programming. This technique employs metadata that is incorporated into the advertisement, which can be recognized by the Tivo recorder. If the viewer so desires, the TiVO™ recorder can be instructed through its user interface to automatically record the advertised program. Unfortunately, if a viewer is watching an advertisement about an upcoming program that does not incorporate such metadata, or if the viewer is equipped with a DRV system that is not compliant with this feature of TiVO™ recorders, the viewer will have to go through a more complex procedure (e.g., using the EPG) to establish a recording session to record the advertised program.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for a digital video recorder system that has the ability to automatically establish a recording session for an upcoming program that is advertised on another program that the viewer is watching without the need for metadata in the advertisement.